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Asking a different question
Support for changing asylum working rules is lower than a campaign suggests.
Does the British public support those seeking asylum being able to get a job? There are limitations on asylum-seekers working in the United Kingdom. After a year-long wait for a decision, they can get “shortage occupation list” jobs.
Refugee Action, a charity backing changes in the rules, claims: “We also present to show that a change in policy would be popular amongst the UK public, with 71% agreeing that people seeking asylum should be allowed to work.”
The survey does not ask that question. The citation leads to a British Future report in 2018. ICM Unlimited conducted an online survey of 3,267 UK adults aged 18 or over. Those survey responses were between 13th and 18th June 2018. There was an extra ‘booster’ sample of 400 people born outside of the UK. The question wording was:
Do you agree or disagree with these statements?
When people come to the UK seeking asylum it is important they integrate, learn English and get to know people. It would help integration if asylum-seekers were allowed to work if their claim takes more than six months to process.
That wording appears in both the British Future and Refugee Action reports.
